We Are Family
by PurpleAltos
Summary: Kurt and Blaine are living a happy life with their daughter, Finley, until one day she comes home from middle school with surprising news that brings back bad memories for her dads.


**Authors Note: Hi everybody! This is the first story written under this collaboration account. We are re-uploading the story because the line breaks didn't save the first time. Sorry for any confusion! Obviously we do not own Glee or Klaine, only what we have done with those characters. Enjoy!**

* * *

Looking at his watch, Blaine sighed with relief as he walked out the doors of his school. When he got roped into going to the meeting for all teachers running school clubs by his principal that morning he had been pretty annoyed. For one thing, he taught music as a class, not a club, so he shouldn't have even had to go, but Mrs. Stevens, the sponsor for the chess club, was out sick, and he was asked to fill in. For another, ever since his daughter Finley had started middle school last week he had made it his goal to always be on time, if not early, to pick her up.

He only had five minutes before her classes let out. Blaine hurried to his car, and after scrambling a moment to find his keys he unlocked the door and hopped inside. Shoving his things haphazardly into the back, he started the car and made his way towards the middle school.

* * *

"Hey, sweetheart!" Blaine welcomed his daughter, Finley, as she slid into the passenger seat of the car. "How was school?"

Finley stared out the window refusing to look at her dad. "It was… alright, I guess."

Blaine looked at the back of his daughter's head, eyes scrunched with worry. "Finley, what happened?" he asked, brushing the girl's curly hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear. "You know you can tell me."

Finley turned her head towards her father, still refusing to meet his eyes. "I'm really sorry, Dad," she mumbled, holding up a yellow slip of paper.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Kurt called out as he came in the house, stepping out of his shoes and dropping his bag by the door. "Apparently I'm still the only person who understands the importance of knee length sweaters in fashion!" He went to the kitchen, where Blaine was preparing dinner.

Looking at his husband, Kurt could tell something was wrong. Blaine was standing in front of a cutting board, clutching a knife tightly in his hand, and cutting vegetables like each had done him a personal disservice. Kurt walked over to him and carefully rested his hands over Blaine's, effectively relaxing his grip on the knife. "I'm sorry, babe. I know it was my turn to cook tonight but they really needed me to stay. I'll make sure I leave early tomorrow so I can make you something extra special."

Blaine forcefully set down the knife and started pacing around the kitchen. Kurt watched him with confusion.

"Blaine, what's wrong?" Kurt asked, furrowing his brow.

Blaine leaned against the counter, his face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you."

Kurt came up from behind and put his arms around him. "What's gotten into you?" He asked, tucking his head in the curve of Blaine's neck.

"Finley…" Blaine said, turning around in Kurt's arms. "She got into a physical altercation at school today. So now we have to go in and talk to the principal and the other kid's parents tomorrow," Blaine explained.

"You can't be serious! What brought this on? She's never been this aggressive before," Kurt exclaimed, still trying to process what he had been told.

Blaine was silent for a moment, looking sadly into Kurt's eyes. "It was because of us…" he said quietly.

Kurt stared at him blankly. "What do you mean because of us?"

Blaine closed his eyes. "You know what I mean." he sighed. "It's because we're gay."

Kurt just stared at him, trying to find the right words.

After a few seconds of agonizing silence, he pulled away from Blaine and sat down at the table, burying his head in his arms. Despite his efforts, he was not able to keep his tears at bay.

"Kurt… We'll figure this out."

"I know," Kurt mumbled, "But it's just not fair!" He looked up at Blaine, his face already red from crying now turning scarlet out of anger. "I thought all this crap was over with after we left high school! I could deal with it when it was Karofsky and the other guys coming at me, but there's no reason for this to be happening to our little girl! She's not like us so why is she being treated like we were!?" He sighed. "I feel like this is our fault… I hate feeling like I'm the reason she's getting hurt."

Blaine took a seat next to Kurt, using his thumb to wipe away his husband's tears. "Babe, look at me," he coaxed, softly lifting his chin until their eyes met. "This is not our fault and you know it. I know how hard this is for you. You've never been able to watch someone getting hurt without saying something, and you know what?" he said, grinning slightly. Kurt blinked at him. "You should be damn proud of Finley. She can't just sit by either. She won't let people talk crap about anyone. She really is your daughter. The girl really has your need to protect people."

Kurt smiled and leaned in to kiss Blaine.

"Whatever happens with this," Kurt said intently, "We need to make sure that doesn't go away."

"No one pushes the Hummel-Anderson's around," Blaine said confidently before placing a light kiss on Kurt's lips.

"Right." Kurt nodded. He looked over his husband's shoulder towards the stairs to the second floor. "Is she in her room?"

Blaine sighed and nodded, "Yeah. I couldn't get her to talk to me anymore about it. Why don't you give it a try and I'll finish dinner?"

"Sounds like a plan," Kurt said, squeezing Blaine's hand before standing up.

Before going to Finley's room, he stopped at the bathroom to look in the mirror. His eyes were still slightly red from crying, but he figured it would be ok. He walked to the end of the hall and knocked lightly on her door. "Fin? Can I come in?" he asked softly.

He heard a soft voice from the other side of the door.

"Yeah." Kurt turned the knob and peeked his head inside.

"Hi, kiddo, I hear you got in a fight today" He said gently. Finley didn't respond. He walked in and sat on the side of the bed. "Can you tell me what happened?" He asked, lightly squeezing her arm.

She sighed, and begrudgingly began to explain herself. "Well, we were talking about what our parents do for work, so I said that one of my dads is a music teacher and the other is a fashion designer. Then after lunch we got to go outside and this boy came up and said my parents were f-a-g's and that two men shouldn't have kids and stuff like that, and I got really mad... so I hit him. I know I shouldn't have but he was being so awful… It's not like I've ever punched anyone before so it isn't like I really hurt him that bad! It just sort of happened! I don't even remember doing it… one minute he was shouting at me and the next he was on the ground!" Finley explained.

"Oh, sweetheart…" Kurt sighed, pulling her close to his chest in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Finley whispered, squeezing her eyes shut to keep tears from spilling out of them. Are you mad at me for getting into a fight?"

"I am." Kurt explained. "You shouldn't be breaking the rules or hurting people. I'm very proud that you are willing to fight for what's right, but violence isn't the answer."

"I know I shouldn't have hit him Daddy, but I can't stand hearing people say those things about you and Dad! Why do people have to make such a big deal out of me having two dads?" Finley cried. "You both love me just as much as a mom and a dad would love their kid, so yeah I know I shouldn't hurt people but he shouldn't have been so rude!"

Kurt brushed his thumbs under her eyes, wiping away the fresh tears that had formed there.

"I know, sweetie," Kurt said, "but I also know better than anyone that violence doesn't solve anything. Sometimes being different means people won't like you, and sometimes there isn't anything you can do to change their minds, but you can't let their negativity get to you."

Finley sniffed and wiped her eyes, absorbing Kurt's words.

"Why don't we go see if Dad needs any help with dinner," Kurt said, holding out his hand.

Nodding, Finley grasped her father's hand, and they made their way to the kitchen.

* * *

"So did she tell you what started the fight?" Blaine asked, applying his moisturizer as he sat next to his husband at their vanity.

Kurt took the bottle of moisturizer. "It came up in class that she has two dads and some kid used… the _F word_ to talk about us," he sighed.

"Wow… Well I mean if the kid is saying things like that I really wonder what the parents are like."

"I know. I think the best we can hope for is some sort of mutual understanding. I mean, their kid said some pretty awful stuff to Fin, but she did punch him. I think there is plenty of blame to go around."

Blaine got up from the vanity and moved into the bathroom, coming out a moment later, toothbrush in his mouth. "I hope so, but we both know how people can be about this kind of thing." he said around the brush. "What are we gonna do if they don't see it how we do?"

Kurt turned around to face Blaine. "I don't know," he said, frowning. "At least we know from meeting some of the administration at the school that they will probably be somewhat reasonable about it. I don't think they'll let anything…" Kurt paused, searching for the right word, "unprofessional happen between us and this kid's parents. The principal seemed like a very tolerant woman. I'm sure it'll be alright."

"And if it isn't?" Blaine asked before turning to the sink and rinsing out his mouth.

"Well," started Kurt, "worst case scenario we end up pulling a Rachel Berry 'My two gay dads are active members of the local ACLU and we'll sue the school for discrimination if you don't do as I say' speech." Kurt said with a laugh, his voice turning nasally in an imitation of their friend's voice.

Blaine turned and smiled at him as he made his way over to their bed and pulled back the covers. "So we are going to threaten the school if we don't get our way?" He asked, sliding under the blankets.

Kurt walked over to the lightswitch, and after sending the room into darkness before he joined his husband in bed. "I don't see what other choice we'll have, Blaine. I don't want to have to be pushy with the school over this, but we both know how serious this is and them letting that boy treat our daughter like that is unacceptable. If they don't want to address the issue, then we'll have to make them," he stated firmly, looking his partner in the eyes as if daring him to disagree.

Blaine nodded. "Of course," he agreed smiling and wrapping his arms around Kurt, pulling him close to his chest. "There's no point in worrying over it now. Whatever happens tomorrow we know that we love each other and our daughter, and that's what matters in the end."

Kurt hummed in agreement. "I'm so glad we have each other." he whispered softly, causing Blaine to smile.

After a loving kiss, Blaine and Kurt wished each other goodnight and settled down in bed facing one another. Slowly, they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Blaine saw Kurt's little blue car pull into the lot as he was getting out of his own. He watched as it pulled into a space, then walked over to open the door.

"Hey, babe," Blaine greeted, leaning in to place a light kiss on his husband's lips. "How was work?"

Kurt unbuckled his seatbelt and looked in the rear view mirror to fix his hair. "It was alright. I couldn't stop worrying about this meeting," he confessed.

Blaine smiled reassuringly, stepping back to allow Kurt to get out of the car. "It'll be okay. We've always beaten the bullies before, and nothing's gonna stop us from doing it again."

Kurt stood up and met Blaine's smile with one of his own. "What would I do without you?" he said, staring lovingly into his husband's hazel eyes.

Blaine chuckled and rested a hand on Kurt's shoulder, leading them both toward the school.

Once they reached the door, Kurt pulled it open. "After you." he said, gesturing for Blaine to enter.

"Thank you." he smiled, going in and holding open the inside door for Kurt.

A very chipper redheaded secretary greeted them as they approached the front desk. "Good morning! What can I do for you today?"

"We're Finley Hummel-Anderson's parents. We have an appointment to talk to the principal." Blaine explained.

The woman's smile faltered slightly as she glanced between them, seemingly confused, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by either man. "Of course," she said after a few moments, quickly regaining her former expression. "The principal's office is through those doors, down the hall on the left, last room on the end. I'll let her know you've arrived."

"Thank you." Kurt said stiffly before they turned to go the way she had told them. "Did you see the face she made?" he asked Blaine worriedly when they were safely out of earshot.

"Yeah, I did," he said, a hint of uneasiness creeping into his voice. "But it doesn't mean anything. Lets just focus on the principal and the parents, okay?"

Kurt shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "You're right. It'll be okay," he said, reassuring both of them as they reached the office.

Blaine knocked on the doorframe. The short, blonde woman behind the orderly desk looked up. "Ah, hello!" she exclaimed, standing up and walking over to them. "You must be Finley's parents." She extended a hand to the men.

Blaine shook it. "Nice to meet you," he smiled. "I'm Blaine, and this is my husband Kurt."

She shook hands with Kurt as well, her friendly smile never once wavering. "Nice to meet you, Kurt and Blaine. I'm Amber Fairchild. Why don't you two come in and have a seat?" she said, gesturing to the four chairs that were set up in a semicircle facing the desk.

Both men entered and sat down beside each other, anxiously eyeing the two empty chairs. It was almost time for the moment they had been dreading since the night before.

"The Halford's should be here any minute," the principal said, assuming her place back behind her desk.

Kurt and Blaine nodded, nervously tapping their fingers on their knees. They glanced back at Amber, who was busying herself arranging papers.

The three sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before there was another knock on the doorframe. They all looked up. Standing there was a pretty faced woman with blonde hair in a floral dress and dainty pink heels accompanied by a balding man in a business suit who had a bluetooth earpiece on. All three stood and Ms. Fairchild greeted the newcomers.

"Halford, Greg Halford," The man before them sneered, shaking the principal's hand firmly. Before his wife had a chance to open her mouth he continued to say, "and this here is my wife Frannie."

As the couple moved to the chairs, Kurt held out his hand. "I'm Kurt and this is my husband Blaine." he said politely. Frannie and Greg looked between his hand and face as if he were disease ridden before sitting down and pointedly refusing to make eye contact with either of them. Kurt and Blaine exchanged nervous looks as they sat down too.

"Now as you know we are here to address an incident that occurred between your children yesterday. Now according to their teacher, Mr. Michaels…" the principal began before being interrupted.

"We all know what happened," came the shrill voice of Frannie Halford. "Our son, Keith, was _attacked_ by their child, and seeing her obviously _unnatural_ upbringing it is no wonder she has behavioral issues!"

"Excuse me!?" Blaine said, his voice shaking with barely concealed rage. "What do you mean 'unnatural upbringing'? We raised Finley right! One instance of rule-breaking does not mean she has 'behavioral issues'!"

Kurt put a hand on Blaine's arm to calm him down as Greg responded. "This isn't some simple instance of rule-breaking! It's assault! If your child is _assaulting_ her peers, then can someone honestly say she has been raised right?! And… _your kind_ wonder why the normal population thinks you're incapable of properly raising children."

Blaine and Kurt both opened their mouths to retort, but were cut off by Amber.

"Alright everyone, let's be adults about this. No need to raise voices." she said forcefully.

"Fine…" Blaine mumbled, slouching back in his chair. Kurt shot him a cautious look. They both knew getting heated wouldn't help their cause.

"Now," Ms. Fairchild said calmly, "The reports I received stated that the fight was incited by Ms. Hummel-Anderson, however the teachers don't always catch everything, and the story I got from your daughter was very different-"

"She's obviously lying!" Mrs. Halford interjected. "Our little Keith would never do anything to provoke this kind of attack!"

Blaine went to argue at a volume rivaling Frannie, but was silenced by Kurt's calm, level voice. "Look, the two of us grew up in suburban Ohio, a place obviously not known for it's open-mindedness. I think you all can imagine how much physical and verbal abuse we faced in our lives, so you can be sure we raised our child to know that bullying is unacceptable." Both the Halford's tried to speak, but Kurt held up a hand, the fire behind his eyes daring them to interrupt. "I'm not finished. She told us that the reason she hit Keith was because he used some nasty homophobic slurs against us. I'm not justifying Finley's actions or saying what she did was okay under any circumstance, but you have to understand that she's a kid, and kids don't always know the right response to things. How do you think your son would react if a classmate was harassing him about his family?"

Mrs. Halford scoffed, "As if what you have could ever be considered a family! Your daughter's actions prove that people like you are highly unfit to be parents! These children's peers raised in _normal_ households with _real_ parents don't act this way! It should be illegal for children to be around such _sin_!"

The few seconds after Mrs. Halford's hateful tirade were filled with shocked silence from the principal and the Hummel-Anderson's. Kurt glanced at his husband. Blaine was visibly shaking with rage, but through the anger Kurt could see that he was close to tears. The shroud of calmness fell away from Kurt, replaced by an animalistic fury.

"Oh I get it! You think just because you represent a traditional nuclear family that magically makes you competent parents!? Well here's your wake up call! Not all straight families are perfect! You certainly aren't if you raised a child who can so casually demean another student for something she can't control! Do you really think that two people so obviously blinded by ignorance and hate can raise a child without spreading it!? I think I speak for both Blaine and I when I say we didn't want this, but you know what? We're proud of who we are and have no reason to be ashamed.! If you hadn't brought your hate into this matter we would have happily conceded that our daughter was in the wrong and should have some sort of punishment and that would have been the end of it! But no, you couldn't go one conversation without setting aside your ignorant bigotry to behave like adults, and you have the audacity to sit there and say those things about my family!?" Kurt screamed at the Halford's, and with little more than a breath of pause he turned his attention towards the principal.

"And you! What is it with principals being completely spineless when faced with any sort of difficulty? What kind of professional does nothing as hate is flung around their office? Do they pay you to just sit there all day and stare blankly into space? I will not allow my daughter to go to a school so obviously run by idiots! You can be assured we will be contacting the school board, the ACLU and anyone and everyone else it takes to make it absolutely clear that this sort of behavior will not stand and get some competent administration who will actually take action against verbal abuse!"

Everyone stared slack jawed at Kurt who leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. His eyes flicked menacingly between the faces of the Halfords and the principal for a few moments before he abruptly stood. "I think we're finished here, don't you?" he challenged. "Come on, Blaine. We have stuff to do… _Family stuff._ " Kurt stormed out of the office.

Once Blaine had recovered from his shock, he too stood up, mumbling a quick "Thank you for your time…" before following on his husband's heels.

"Where the hell did that come from?!" Blaine asked once he caught up to a still fuming Kurt.

They walked out past the welcome desk. Kurt shot a dangerous glare at the redheaded woman behind it. Once they got outside, he stopped short and spun on his heels to face Blaine.

"Enough is enough! We put up with so much crap from our schools and from stupid bigots who don't know their ass from their mouth and you know what? I've finally had it! Our daughter is not going to deal with what we had to, and I will personally make sure of that!"

Blaine stared at Kurt, the corners of his mouth turning up into a grin.

"What on earth could you be smiling about?! This is serious!"

"You just pulled a Rachel Berry better than she ever has!" Blaine laughed. "I mean the look on the principal's face when you started off on her! I thought she was going to wet herself!"

Kurt looked at him angrily for a moment, but couldn't contain his own laughter. "I guess I did. It was pretty funny…" He admitted, smiling sheepishly at Blaine.

After taking a moment and enjoying their laughter Kurt sobered up. "You do realize this means we have a huge fight with the school ahead of us, right?"

Blaine took one of Kurt's hands. "I do. We'll get through it, just like we have everything else the world has thrown us. We can worry about what we are going to do about this tomorrow. Right now I want to go get our incredibly brave daughter and celebrate with some ice cream together."

Kurt looked at him with his eyebrows raised. "And what exactly are we celebrating? A fight with the school and some homophobic morons?"

Blaine just kissed him softly on the cheek and smiled. "No. We are celebrating being a family. Because no matter what happens, no one can ever take that away from us."

* * *

THE END


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